


i can never finish anything; i will finish you

by eleonorastay



Category: Anne of Green Gables (TV 1985) & Related Fandoms, Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Shirbert, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:06:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28230618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eleonorastay/pseuds/eleonorastay
Summary: Set at Queens College: Gilbert has arrived for a formal courtship visit, and catches the girls discussing a new trouble of Anne’s.
Relationships: Diana Barry & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley, Shirbert - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 134





	i can never finish anything; i will finish you

**Author's Note:**

> "Send me a song lyric with a ship/fandom and I will use it as inspiration for a fic" prompt. 
> 
> @weathersbywebseriesreviews asked: I can never finish anything/I will finish you/You might wonder what I mean/If only you knew/ for ship of your choice."
> 
> Song: "Finish" by Nel
> 
> My first Shirbert fic! Short and sweet. Hope y'all like it!

Anne liked to think of herself as a positive person—someone whose dreams and goals and future plans were rooted in a particular category of merriment…joy, even. As a professional dreamer, she had always believed that it did no person good to waste precious moments of thought on what problems or obstacles might befall them in the future…

Well. 

Now she was wondering if perhaps she should have afforded herself a few minutes of negative-minded forethought. Even then she would never have seen this particular problem coming, but she might be more equipped to handle it. 

“Oh, what ARE you going to do, Anne?” Diana teases, fussing about Anne’s dress collar like a mother hen. The action reminds Anne distinctly of Marilla. Being reminded of Marilla makes her heart ache a little, as it always does. 

“Why should she do anything? “ Josie scoffs, punching the pillow in her lap. “It’s not written anywhere that she has to give them an answer.” 

“If only there were something written down to tell me what I should do!” Anne groans, collapsing sideways into Diana’s lap. 

“Are you going to tell Gilbert about it?” Ruby gasps, looking both horrified and intrigued by the idea.

Sitting up, Anne hisses, “Of course not!” at the exact same moment a deeper voice rings from the doorway: “Tell me what?”

Gil.

There he is, dark hair a little messy from the journey and sweet grin warming her like a ray of sunshine. She takes note of the shadowy circles under his eyes, the barely concealed tension of his shoulders—his letters have articulated the intensity of his teachers and their seemingly never-ending train of assignments all too well. No doubt he is hardly eating enough, and staying up all night to study!

As the elected Watchwoman, Tillie peeks out the door and gives the girls a military-esque nod. Almost like they’ve rehearsed it, everyone rearranges themselves on the duvet so Gilbert can sit next to Anne. 

“Tell me what?” he asks again, nodding to their friends (or, as they cleverly insisted to their resident denmother, Anne’s cluster of chaperones). 

“It’s nothing, nothing at all,” she fibs—terribly, from the look he’s giving her.

“Anne’s gotten quite popular lately is all.”

“Josie!!” Cheeks reddening, Anne throws the closest thing she can reach at the chortling girl—which, incidentally, is Gilbert’s hat. Good thing he’s used to such behavior; or perhaps he’s just distracted by his own confusion. 

To her credit, poor Ruby gives her best attempt at damage control. “What Josie means is, we go out sometimes—not to anywhere strange of course! Just to church, and the bookstore, and sometimes Anne makes us all go a field or a lake to read poetry, and well, there are men there—but not strange men!”

“Men with questionable taste,” Josie chortles, hiding from Anne’s glare behind the throw pillow.

“Oh, stop being so childish!” Leaning over Anne’s lap, Diana says matter-of-factly, “When we go out, men find Anne very interesting and pretty and charming, so they often come by the school and ask for her. Sometimes they leave notes or little gifts. That’s all.”

Hands flying up to shield her face, Anne decides now would be the perfect time to die. 

“Oh.” 

Peeking out from between her fingers, she sneaks a look at Gilbert. He doesn’t seem upset…he doesn’t seem anything, actually. He’s doing that thing with his mouth that reminds her of a frog, which is adorable but also very nerve-wracking. 

There’s a moment of silence before Diana, bless her, breaks it. “What is that outside?”

Tillie tilts her head quizzically, then: “Oh! Yes! Let’s take a look!”

As if on cue, all four girls race to the window, peering out the glass with intense interest. Anne would be grateful if her emotional well had room for anything other than an overflow of embarrassment. 

“Well…” Gently, his hands tug her own away from her face, bringing them down to her lap. The callouses from the long summer days working for Bash still coat his palms, and she risks letting him intertwine their fingers. 

“I promise I would never—I know we’re courting, everyone should know, you visit so often—not often enough of course, but that’s—it’s not like I’m asking for their attention, I don’t know why they would even—if it were proper to yell in public I would--it’s because of my hair, you see, it’s behaving better lately and I suppose that suits me--”

“Anne.” Dimples deepening, he gives her hand a squeeze. “I know you hate when I interrupt, but I think I have to. I don’t mind if other people show interest in you. In fact, I sort of expected it. There’s a lot about you to be interested about. And even if they’re the richest, handsomest, smartest men in town—in the world—I’m not worried.”

Someone by the window that sounds suspiciously like Ruby makes an “eep!” sound, quickly followed by several shushes.

His eyes are so dark and warm, she feels like going swimming in them. Gathering up the remnants of her pride, she tries, “Oh? And why is that, then?” 

He smiles that smile that’s her favorite, the one that somehow reminds her how little and yet also how much she knows. Glancing over at their audience, he leans closer (too close to keep them out of trouble if the headmistress walks in) and lowers his voice:

“Because when you decided to let me belong to you, Anne, I decided to love you so soundly that you will be finished. I made up my mind long ago to ruin all men for you—and most women, if I can help it.” 

Of there’s one thing Anne is good at, it’s words. And yet, after hearing such a thing, she has never felt so speechless.

With them, there has always been a quippy sort of back-and-forth. Some would even say a battle of wits, classified by a precocious pretention that only the other could match. But the true beauty of it, the beauty she hadn’t noticed until it was almost too late, is that everything between them was sincere. Even now, the way he’s looking at her makes her feel so chosen, in the most delicious way. And that is one of the things she loves most about Gilbert. Even though he’s a pen ink and fresh earth sort of man rather than a sunbursts and marble halls sort of man, he can string together the most magic, romantical words in the world at the drop (or, throw) of a hat, and mean them. 

Letting go of her hands, Gilbert runs his own through his hair in a bashful manner that makes him seem much younger than he is. “Was that too cheeky of me?” 

Heavy footsteps in the hall prevent her from answering. Gilbert leaps to his feet and leaps three feet to the left as the girls rush from the window to pile next to Anne, spines straight and hands folded innocently in their laps. Right as the door opens, Diana tosses Gilbert his hat, which he stuffs under his arm just in time. 

Gilbert’s sailing through polite small talk with the headmistress and Tillie & Josie are making teasing comments under their breaths. But Anne’s not listening. Instead, she’s spending these precious moments of imagination plotting what divinely romantical, swoonworthy things she can say to Gilbert in her next letter. 

After all, she’s got to make sure to ruin all women for him as well—and men too, if she can help it.


End file.
